Berlin Conference

John Mauldin - Not Minor Demons: Problems on the Euro Periphery 2/5

In Part 2 of this five-part INET "From the Director's Chair" interview, INET Executive Director Robert Johnson talks with John Mauldin about the need for fundamental restructuring in Europe. "The real problem is not Italy," Mauldin says. "The real problem is Spain. Spain is much less competitive and has much deeper deficits." Mauldin sees a need for deep changes across Europe and a Greek exit from the euro. "From a Greek standpoint, I think they're better off choosing the disaster that will be leaving the euro as opposed to choosing the disaster that will be staying in the euro," he says.

Jeff Sachs - Getting Beyond Keynesian Stimulus 4/5

In Part 4 of this interview From the Director's Chair, INET Executive Director Robert Johnson talks with Jeffrey Sachs about the effectiveness of Keynesian stimulus. Sachs isn't convinced. "The idea of stable, reliable Keynesian multipliers is actually not a theoretically sound idea," he says. And in an small-government environment, too much ineffective government spending will create a political backlash, which as Sachs says, "indeed it did" after Obama's stimulus package. "A short term stimulus that blipped up and then blipped down, what was that going to accomplish?" he asks. "We needed to build in serious decade long policies." Sachs offers some ideas for getting America back on track in the years ahead.

Jeff Sachs - The New Gilded Age 5/5

In Part 5 of this interview From the Director's Chair, INET Executive Director Robert Johnson talks with Jeffrey Sachs about the challenges of collective action. Sachs offers a brief history lesson comparing the problems of today to America's Gilded Ages of the past. There is some reason to hope, he suggests, because "in American history when this has happened, and it's happened at least twice before, it was followed by a renewal of collective action through the instruments of politics, a democratization, and a reform." Can America get back on track?

Jeff Sachs - Survival of the Fittest: The Need for Comparative Economics 3/5

In Part 3 of this interview From the Director's Chair, INET Executive Director Robert Johnson talks with Jeffrey Sachs about the realities of the American fiscal situation. The focus on small government can't fit ever-lower taxes for the rich. Sachs suggests looking to other, more successful models for solutions. "Good, rigorous, comparative institutional analysis is vital for success," he says. Yet the U.S. seems unable to heed the lessons of its neighbors. Sachs suggests that in order to find solutions, America must get over its "big country attitude."

Jeff Sachs - America in Crisis: What Role for Government? 1/5

In Part 1 of this interview From the Director's Chair, INET Executive Director Robert Johnson talks with Jeffrey Sachs about Sachs's book The Price of Civilization: Reawakening American Virtue and Prosperity. Sachs doesn't view 2008 as just another business-cycle crash "It's something deeper than that," he says. "And its roots go back several decades." Sachs examines the last 30 years in American history and suggests that US politics offered up a major misdiagnosis that "the government was the problem rather than the challenge of globalization." 30 years of shrinking government and deregulation didn't address the structural challenges of globalization -- and it still won't. Can government play a role now or is it too late?

Jeff Sachs - Money Talks: The Distortion of Money in Democracy 2/5

In Part 2 of this interview From the Director's Chair, INET Executive Director Robert Johnson talks with Jeffrey Sachs about money in American politics. Sachs sees a "system of legalized corruption" that has distorted political outcomes. The positions that are coming out of Washington, out of the political machine, are far to the right of the center of American public opinion," he says. "That's not how democracies in the textbook function." Is this just "how American politics works right now"?

INET Spotlight - Lord Adair Turner Berlin Keynote and YSI Commons Virtual Talk

“If economists could get themselves thought of as humble, competent people on a level with dentists, that would be splendid.”

So said Lord Adair Turner at INET’s Berlin conference during his dazzling keynote address, titled “What Matters: Fundamental Challenges and Self-inflicted Wounds.”

In his speech, Turner, Chairman of the UK Financial Services Authority, took on some of the fundamental challenges society faces. On climate change, he challenged that “‘setting an appropriate carbon price is a necessary approach but not sufficient.” Instead, “climate change will only be met with strong political commitment,” he said. Read more

Posted by The Institute for... at 10:52 am

INET Spotlight: Jamie Galbraith

What has been driving the worldwide growth of inequality, both within and between countries? Jamie Galbraith has an idea: “Surely financial policies strike me as a very plausible culprit.” Read more

Posted by The Institute for... at 12:20 pm